Growing up in 60s Wisconsin, Bartz says she was expected to end up as either a teacher or a nurse, and even after joining manufacturing firm 3M, she faced discrimination. She was told by one colleague: "Women don't do these jobs."

She left for a meteoric career in computing and built her reputation at Autodesk, where, despite undergoing chemotherapy for the first six months of her tenure, she went on to increase revenues sevenfold.